Get to Know Barbara

Barbara Lynn Blackmon-Gussak is a fiber artist newly transplanted from Mesa, Arizona to Danielsville, Pennsylvania. She draws inspiration from the natural world, blending her love of creation with a unique style of realism.

Her jump into fiber work began in her early teens as she started to create macrame pieces - wall hangings and flowerpot holders. Creating this decorative functional art from fiber was just the beginning. After a creative pause during college and her early career in nursing, her journey led her to Fairbanks, AK where she was reintroduced to fiber arts – this time through quilting. Over the next 21 years, she mastered a variety of quilting techniques before finding her way to art quilts. Her first  commissioned piece was her first Collage Quilt: a full sized art quilt of an African Elephant.

She had this first piece appraised and through the process she was encouraged, by the appraiser, to submit one of her pieces into competition. In 2023 Barbara submitted her first piece, Grace Under Pressure, into the prestigious Road to California Quilt Competition and was selected as a semi-finalist. This recognition was confirmation that she was doing what she was meant to do.

As her passion for this style of art grew, she began learning from some of the leaders in the field. She became a Certified Instructor of Emily Taylor’s Parchment Pressing Technique and fell in love with sharing her techniques with quilters and non-quilters alike. Barbara tells her students that she believes this technique is the most user-friendly for beginners.

Her teaching continues as she found the owner of The Quilted Crow in Palmerton, PA very interested in bringing Collage Quilting to her customers!

For her the process is true joy.